my very own toy story

Last night, Nick and I went to see Toy Story 3 in 3D.... and there were no shortage of tears that resulted. I am a fan of the Toy Story series in general, and all of the movies have had touching and tearful moments (well, at least for me — I'm a crier), but this was some serious, I'm-sobbing-and-I-hope-no-one-can-see-me-behind-these-giant-3D-glasses kind of crying. If you've seen the movie, you probably know what I mean. (Or you just think I'm crazy and hormonal. Also true.) I'm not going to sell him out, but let's just say that someone sitting to my left may have also had tears running down his face.

What can I say? We're a bunch of saps.

I won't ruin the ending of the movie for anyone who has not yet seen it, but the premise of the film is that Andy, the toys' owner, is all grown up and going off to college; Andy no longer has the same need for Woody and Buzz (and the rest of his beloved toys) as he prepares to move on to his exciting new life. It's true that we all grow up and lose some of the emotional attachment we once had with our toys, but I'm pretty sure that we all had our own Woody and Buzz at some point; those toys that represent our childhood, our innocence, our happiness.

For me, those toys were my CPKs — my Cabbage Patch Kids. My two best friends — Jill and Denise — and I were totally in love with our CPKs. We went over to each other's houses and had CPK school, CPK parties, CPK dance recitals... CPK everything. We had piles upon piles of clothes and accessories for our kids. We were enamored with them and they truly were like our own children.

My first Cabbage Patch Kid was Carol — she had orange yarn for hair and she was one of the original dolls when the CPK fad first hit in the early 80s. I adored Carol, and she came with me wherever I went... including one fateful trip to the store with my mom where Carol was accidentally left behind. I was heartbroken when we couldn't find her, but never fear — Carol 2.0 soon became mine and all was right with my world again.

me with the original Carol;
please take note of my stylish Strawberry Shortcake shoes
and the delightful shag carpeting

Over the years, I collected more and more Cabbage Patch Kids — some were gifts, some I saved up for and bought with my own money, some were inherited from my older brother when the novelty of the boy dolls wore off on him. At one point, I had 12 CPKs. Excessive, perhaps, but they were my world. I really don't remember any other dolls or toys that I loved as a kid, and that was probably because I didn't have a lot of others. My joy came from my CPKs, so that's what I stuck with.

The summer before I turned ten years old, my mom, brother and I went to visit relatives in New Orleans. My dad still had to work, so he stayed home and held down the fort, and the days that he'd be on the road for work, our neighbors were going to stop in to feed our dogs. Of course I couldn't bring all of my CPKs to New Orleans with me, so I chose one to bring along — her name was Jillian and she was one of the new bath-time Cabbage Patch Kids who had a rubbery body that could get wet; she had silky blond hair and wore a cute little yellow bathing suit with bright pink polka dots, and a bathrobe on top. My other 11 kids stayed home.

The day before our trip, Jill, Denise and I had forced our parents to sit through a CPK dance recital in Jill's basement; my kids and their plethora of costumes were still in the garbage bag that I had transported them to Jill's house in.

Yes... a garbage bag. Do you see where this is going?

I remember leaving the bag at the bottom of our stairs, by the front door, in the living room of our house on Claremont Road. It was completely my fault; I should have put the bag in my room when I got back from Jill's house that day, or taken the dolls out of the bag entirely and put them away. But I didn't. To this day, we don't know who was responsible for disposing of the garbage bag, but it was just a very unfortunate accident. My kids were inadvertently put on the curb amidst the garbage and taken away. All I had left was Jillian, the doll I had taken to New Orleans with me.

We didn't realize what had happened until a day or so after we returned from our trip when I invited Jill over to play with our CPKs. She came from her house across the street with her own bag full of kids, while my mom and I looked everywhere for mine. We simply could not find them. And then, it hit us. When we finally realized what must have happened, I think my mom was as devastated as I was. I remember the look on Jill's face... she felt the loss, too. I cried and cried and cried.

It took a while to be able to joke about it, but my mom and I now refer to that fateful event as "the cruise" — as in, the cruise that my CPKs took... to the Bermuda Triangle.

Looking back, I was probably growing too old to still be regularly playing with dolls, and I didn't really want to replace all of my lost Cabbage Patch Kids; getting a Carol 3.0 just sounded like a silly idea. Perhaps losing them at that point in my life was a little sign that it was time to grow up.

I did eventually get a few more CPKs, but they could never have truly replaced my lost dolls; many of them became more like collectibles to me as I got older. They sat as decoration on the built-in shelves in my bedroom, and helped me to remember the old times. Denise gave me an artist Cabbage Patch Kid as a gift when we graduated from high school. It was a nice little reminder of who we once were all those years ago, and where we were going (I was headed to college to major in art). The Cabbage Patch Kids I gradually collected after "the cruise" are still tucked away in a bin in my mom's basement, including that artist doll who is still in her original box; maybe my future kids will enjoy playing with them someday.

It may sound crazy, but I still get a little choked up when I think about losing my kids. Recounting this story actually makes my heart hurt. Cabbage Patch Kids were such a huge part of my childhood, and although it may sound silly because they were only toys and not real people, that was really my first experience with heartbreaking loss. It was accidental and unexpected, and there was nothing anyone could do to get them back. Twenty years later, I can still clearly recall the sadness I felt.

I remember telling the story of "the cruise" to my friend Amy 10 or so years ago, and she had tears in her eyes as I relayed what happened. No matter who we are or where we came from, we can all relate to having that innocent, emotional connection with and undying love for a toy (or toys) as a child; fortunately, the memory of utter happiness and adoration for that thing is not something that can be taken away from you, even when the object is no longer part of your world.

Me with another one of my CPKs, years before "the cruise"

My childhood joy was my Cabbage Patch Kids... what was yours?

C25K and LoseIt! progress (and a few steps back)

It's been about a month and a half since I've been following the Couch to 5K program, and a month since I've been tracking calories with the LoseIt! app. I've been planning to post a little follow-up on my progress for you guys, but it's not without some embarrassment that I do so.

See — I was doing really well. I was keeping up with C25K, building my momentum, and eating well. (By "well" I mean "better than the crap I usually eat." I'm not going to change overnight, people.) In four weeks, I had lost three out of the eight pounds I was hoping to lose! I felt great and motivated to keep going.

And then... and then... I got sick. Again. Just as I got sick halfway through my last attempt at the Shred, I was forced to throw in the towel for a few days while I got hopped up on Nyquill and made my way through about six boxes of tissues. (As an aside, I'm a generally healthy person. I can't help but wonder if I'm allergic to exercise and that's the reason I get sick every time I seem to commit to a new workout regime. I'm just sayin'...) Once I was feeling better, it was time to head down the shore for a long weekend with my family. My family and lots of food. My family and lots of food and some adult beverages. By the last day of our mini-vacation, I didn't even bother logging each thing I ate into LoseIt! — I just created a new food item in the app called "Caloriefest," estimated a whopping number of calories and called it a day. I told myself I'd start fresh the next day.

Well, the next day? It was like 97 degrees and humid in Philadelphia. The news stations were calling it a heatwave. And seeing as I have no gym membership, no treadmill, and an extremely whiny disposition when it comes to heat, I put my C25K runs on hold. For another week. I could have done some DVD or OnDemand workouts to stay active in the meantime, but I didn't. I just plain got lazy and didn't do anything, and, in addition, I slacked on logging my calories in LoseIt! all last week (and therefore ate too much junk).

I gained every pound back.

I'm mad at myself. I know it's not a huge amount of weight, but how disappointing to have done that well for a month only to throw it all away for some manicotti, cold beer, and some amazing lemon sugar cookies (among other things). I'm embarrassed that I've documented so many attempts at getting fit on this blog to no avail. What a bummer.

I can't let it get me down, though. Yesterday, I started back up with C25K (in case you're wondering, I'm stuck on week 4... but hey, at least I'm doing it), I'm back to logging what I eat into LoseIt!, and I'm trying to remember that I can't just diet and then splurge for a week and expect nothing to happen. Even when I'm not trying to lose weight, I need to remember that I still have to put a little effort into maintaining my weight, because clearly when I get lackadaisical, I gain. I'm not 17 anymore and I can't pig out like I used to without some love handles to show for it :-/ Sigh.

I'll continue to keep you all posted on my successes and failures as I work to get healthier and a little more svelte. In the meantime, tomorrow I'll be sharing a guest post from a good friend of mine who went from non-runner to marathon-completer — she is an inspiration and she'll be sharing some great tips for easing into the world of running. Stay tuned!

is your husband immature?

Mine is. This is what he does when mailing things to his parents (who, fortunately, have a good sense of humor):

photo courtesy of my mother-in-law

When writing me a check for the rent each month (no, we still haven't gotten our act together enough to organize our bills to pay from a joint checking account, shush), he also writes "*SEXUAL FAVORS*" in the memo line to embarrass me in front of the people at my bank.

Such a charmer, he is. Wherever did I find him?

permanent press

You know you're a grown-up when you start lusting after beautiful laundry rooms.

Have you seen the great DIY transformation of Centsational Girl's laundry room? It makes me want to sing and dance around with an oversized bottle of Wisk.

I also love the tidy and organized laundry nook of John & Sherry from Young House Love.

Alas, for now, our little washer-dryer combo tucked behind a curtain (in my office, of all places) will have to do. Sigh. At least we have a washer-dryer, right?

tomatoes = productivity?

Staying productive when working from home can sometimes be a challenge, especially when I'm working on projects that aren't necessarily for a client, but are more self-assigned. I recently discovered mytomatoes.com, which employs the Pomodoro Technique: 25 minutes of work, then a five minute break, and after four "tomatoes" a longer break. Every time you complete a "tomato" and hear the alarm, you log what you worked on, so it's really great for accountability.

Using mytomatoes.com is what motivated me to have a day free of social networking one day last week. I realized how much time I was wasting on Twitter and Facebook and I needed a break to increase my productivity! For me, it also does double-duty — I need to track my time when I'm doing work for clients, and this way I have a reminder to log what I work on for every 25-minute increment (instead of remembering at 4pm that I should have been tracking my time for the last 7 hours. Oops).

bet your bottom dollar

I think it's time I share with you all the secret to my marriage. Well, maybe it's not the only secret to staying happy and minimizing conflict, but as equally stubborn Leos, it is one that Nick and I use often, and it works like a charm. It is...

the dollar bet.

image source

That's right: whenever Nick and I disagree over a fact-based matter, we bet a dollar that one of us has the right answer. If it's something that IMDB, Wikipedia, or Google can clear up for us, we bet a hundred cents, and all arguments cease. We break out the iPhones and when one of us wins (ahem, usually me), the other can't argue — he just has to hand over a buck and wallow in his wrongness. We even bet a dollar on the racing Septa bus competition (Red! No, blue!) that is shown on the jumbotron at Phillies games. It's silly, but I have to say that winning a dollar is the ultimate satisfaction, because you have something to show for your victory. And believe me, we each like to gloat when we prove the other wrong. We're very mature.

I only wish that when we started making dollar bets (years ago... I don't even know how long we've been doing it), we had started keeping track of who wins each bet. I am pretty sure I'd be in the lead...

What's your method for squashing disagreements?

introducing... Curious & Company

I've been a bit quiet on the blog front this week, but with good reason: today is the day that my business partners and I are officially introducing our company to the world!

That's right — I am now a small business owner. This is something I have always dreamed about; I often felt a nagging feeling that it was what I was meant to do, but I didn't know if it would ever become a reality. I was never quite sure how I would do it on my own, so when the opportunity presented itself to work with people whose talents I admire and whose friendships I value, I couldn't say no. While this has been a scary leap to take, it has also been an extremely fulfilling and exhilarating one. The last few months has been full of transitions, penny-pinching, soul-searching and fear-facing; this is an adventure, for sure, but I am enjoying the ride.

Please check out Curious & Company and let us know what you think! You can also follow @CuriousAndCo on Twitter and become a Facebook fan to stay up-to-date on what we're working on.

the power of persuasion

I did it. I convinced Nick that we should spend our $250 Cooking.com gift card on the Le Creuset 5.5 quart Dutch Oven! Well, actually, dear readers, your helpful comments about the Le Creuset are what helped to seal the deal. So, thank you!

In less than one week, she will be all mine:

I had to pinkie swear that I will use it at least twice a month, so please don't hesitate to share with me your favorite go-to Dutch oven recipes. I'll be needing lots of ideas and recommendations (and I promise to blog about some of my adventures with my new darling).

At $234.95 with $17.00 shipping, our total came to just over our $250 gift card limit. However, with some super sleuthing, I found a free shipping coupon code, saving us $17.00 and bringing our grand total back down to $234.95. You know I couldn't let that last $15.05 go to waste, so I added this lovely green turner set from Rachel Ray for $14.95:

... bringing our grand total to: $249.90. A measly TEN CENTS below our limit.

Am I good, or what?

Finding coupon codes is one of my favorite online shopping tricks. I don't buy anything online without first Googling "[store name] coupon code," and I'd say I find a usable code about 80% of the time. It takes a little trial and error, but definitely give it a shot if you're ever ordering online — you can find some great deals!

here's some free money — spend it already, would ya?

Once upon a time (okay, about a year ago), Nick and I were on a game show together. I won't go into detail because it was not actually a great experience for us (in short, we were robbed... ROBBED I tell you!), and we have vowed to never go on a game show again (unless, of course, Alex Trebek finally comes a-callin'), but we at least came away from the experience with a consolation prize of a $250 gift card to Cooking.com.

Awesome! you may be thinking. Well, actually, not that awesome. We went on aforementioned game show only a few months after getting married (have you guessed the name of the show, yet?), and when you get married, you register for wedding gifts. And, well, when you register for wedding gifts, you get a LOT of stuff. We were extremely fortunate to receive just about everything off of our registries, leaving us needing very few things in the kitchen.

We have all the shiny and sharp Cutco knives you could ever hope for. I'm not allowed to buy anymore cookbooks because we have a shelf full of them. We have a beautiful set of Calphalon pots and pans, all of the dishes and cutlery we registered for at Crate & Barrel, tons of Tupperware, a KitchenAid stand mixer AND hand mixer, a Cuisinart Griddler, a crock pot... you get the point. We have no backyard so no use for a grill, and no dining room, so no use for fancy table cloths or anything of the sort.

It usually doesn't take me very long to spend gift cards, but we can't make up our minds with this one. We just can't seem to find anything we really need, but we don't want to let the gift card just keep sitting here, either. (We don't think it expires, but you never know.) One item that I have my eye on is this beauty:

the coveted Le Creuset Dutch Oven in Caribbean... drool

It's so, so pretty. We would never, ever in our lives spend $235 of "real" money on something like this, but perhaps this is our opportunity to splurge, since it's "fake" money? The only problem is that Nick asked me what I would cook in a Dutch oven (after making a predictable Dutch oven joke... men), and I haven't a clue. Zip. Zilch. Zero. I mean, I don't cook much as it is (but I'm starting to a leeeeetle more) — how am I supposed to know what you make in this thing? Yet I've heard raves galore on these babies, and I'm determined that I could find some use for one. And have I mentioned how gosh darn pretty it is?

Some other less exciting options:

Winsome Wood Hall Bench with Baskets —
we could always use extra storage in our hallway

Stainless steel book/pot rack —
this would cut down on the naughty language when one of us is trying to dig out the %$#*& pot we need from the depths of our cabinets

A conglomeration of small items that we'd like to have, including Jamie's Food Revolution (I know I said no more cookbooks allowed, but shhh), a Microplane Zester Grater, a spatula (I always feel like we need a few more), organic dish towels, and a Le Creuset batter bowl (hey, at least I'd get my Caribbean Le Creuset fix somewhere)

So please, tell me: do you have a Le Creuset Dutch oven? What size do you have? Is it really necessary and/or useful if we already have lots of pots and pans and a crock pot? Enlighten me!

If you would opt to spend the gift card on something else, what would you choose?

how rude!

Have you ever had one of those experiences where someone is so unbelievably rude that it sticks with you for years? I was asked a question on Formspring recently that reminded me of an encounter like this, (by the way, I'm thinking of quitting Formspring... I won't go into detail since Coasting Anon pretty much summed it up perfectly already, so check out her post) and thought I'd share my response with you all. The original question:

I think many of us have had the experience of feeling wronged by an individual, only to think of the perfect comeback... 2 hours later. Tell me about one of those times and what you wish you had said.

About 7 years ago, my mom and I were out to dinner at a local Chili's near where I was living at the time. It was my first time living on my own after college, so it was still kind of an adjustment for me, and I am really close with my mom so we tried to have weekly dinners to catch up. Anyway, we were sitting at Chili's, having finished our meal, but we were just chatting and laughing and relaxing, not in any rush to get out of there (it wasn't crowded or anything, so we didn't feel like we were holding anything up). Some little no-good pimple-faced wearing-too-much-eyeliner brat of a teenager came over and asked us if we were going to be leaving soon because, ya know, they were waiting to sit there. We were just so caught off-guard and responded, "um, yeah, in a few minutes," and we just sat there stunned as she walked away to bitch about us to her equally annoying and pimple-faced friends. Apparently we were sitting right in the middle of a larger area of tables that were empty, but, unbeknownst to us, they were waiting for us to leave before they could put all the tables together and seat this group of annoying teenagers.

My mom and I were so annoyed, but at the same time embarrassed, because two of the employees who were standing nearby, putting the other tables together, saw the whole thing and just kind of stood there without doing anything. We started to get a complex that maybe we were being jerks sitting at this table after we were done our meal, and we should go.

As we walked out, pimple-face's friends apologized like "ohmygod I'm sooooo sorry, she didn't mean that you had to leave, we were just waiting for our table yada yada yada" and my mom told them she was just trying to enjoy dinner with her daughter who she only gets to see once a month (okay, we stretched that truth a bit, hehe) and generally (deservedly) made it known that they were clearly in the wrong as we walked out.

I went home and an hour later I was still fuming, so I called the restaurant just to tell the manager what had happened. I told him how disappointed I was that the employees standing nearby didn't do anything to make us feel more welcome after they saw our encounter with brat-tastic, and we felt like we were being forced out of there; he apologized and promised me a free dessert the next time we went in (which of course never happened). I felt a little better after that, but I REALLY wish I had asked for the manager while we were sitting there being confronted by the brat, and I wish I had given her a piece of my mind for real. I wish they had gotten kicked out of the restaurant so they realized that is not acceptable human behavior, and when you treat people poorly, you receive that same treatment in return.

When put on-the-spot during encounters like this, I always come up with my response or comeback too late; it's SO frustrating! Are you good at reacting quickly when dealing with an inconsiderate individual, or do you always come up with your best comeback two hours later, too?

I want you to WANT to mail the card

Yesterday, Nick and I had a very Jennifer Aniston/Vince Vaughn moment. No, no — not in the sense that we're breaking up, silly! But we sort of lived out the "I want you to WANT to do the dishes" scene from The Breakup. Except, I was Vince Vaughn and Nick was Jennifer Aniston...

... Let me start over.

Nick had a card that he had written out for his grandmother, and it was addressed, with a stamp on it, sitting at the top of the stairs in our apartment. That's where we usually sit things that need to be remembered on our way out the door. The morning after he wrote the card out, I saw it still sitting there. Huh, I figured — Nick forgot to grab the card on his way to work. Guess he'll mail it later. I went about my day and pretty much immediately forgot about it.

The following day, yesterday, it was still sitting there. Geez, I thought to myself, when is he going to mail that card? I ended up not leaving the apartment yesterday, so I didn't grab it on my way out anywhere to drop it in the nearest mailbox, and it just didn't occur to me that I should go out of my way to mail it.

Last night, Nick said to me, "Will you remember to mail that card tomorrow, or should I just walk down to the mailbox right now?"

Um, excuse me?

I barked very nicely said, "I was never told that I was supposed to mail that card."

He immediately knew that the way he had asked his question sounded accusatory, and he backtracked a little bit to redeem himself. After a little spattering back-and-forth, he said I was right, he had never asked me to mail the card, and he apologized that it came out the wrong way; then, he walked down the street to mail the card.

But it occurred to me later in the evening — why didn't I mail that card for him? No, he had never outright asked me, but I saw it sitting there for two days in a row, and I ignored it. The mailbox is half a block from our apartment, and yes, it would have been "out of my way," but I work from home and it probably would have taken all of 90 seconds of my time to take care of it. But I didn't.

He wanted me to WANT to mail the card for him.

He does nice things for me all the time without my asking, but I did not extend the same courtesy to him. I felt like a jerk.

Hopefully I'll learn from this incident and go out of my way to be a little more courteous the next time. Next time, I'll WANT to mail the card for him.

Do you and your spouse ever have the "I want you to WANT to do the dishes" moment?

curly hair cocktail

Over the last few years, I've finally come to somewhat embrace not totally hate my natural curls. After about 8 years of using the flat iron every. single. day. I decided to take advantage of the length that had grown out for our wedding and go back to the curls for a little while. (A short 'do and curls never worked for me — I always got the dreaded triangle-effect if my hair wasn't long enough.)

My hair was kind of begging for a little less heat damage, and it takes me a lot less time to get ready in the mornings now, but it did take a little while to assemble the perfect combination of products to work with my hair — a curly hair cocktail, if you will. Currently, here are my products of choice:

I alternate between Aussie Moist and Iden Bee Propolis Bee Balanced for shampooing and conditioning. My scalp can get pretty dry, and my hairdresser recommended the Iden products; it's also always good to alternate your shampoos and conditioners every so often to keep hair refreshed, and I've always liked Aussie products.

After I towel dry my hair, I mix together Redken's Fresh Curls Curl Refiner with a drop of Frizz Ease Clearly Defined Style Holding Gel. My hair is pretty soft/fine so if I use the Redken Curl Refiner on its own, my curls are too soft and, in turn, can look frizzy (though I like this product for the moisture it adds). Adding a little bit of the Frizz Ease gel helps to give the curls a little more shape, sans frizz.

Once my product is in, I try not to really mess with my hair much. The curls look their best when they do their own thing and I haven't gone crazy trying to scrunch them. I dry my hair with a diffuser (key for containing the frizz), and I spray Aussie Sprunch spray when it's still a little damp, then dry some more. The Sprunch spray is great for keeping things contained without being too wet or giving me crispy curls (eww). Once I'm done drying, I go over everything with a few more sprays of the Sprunch spray, and voila — somewhat contained curls.

It may sound like a process, but it saves me about 15 minutes compared to when I was using the flat iron every day, and my hair feels healthier, to boot. I have to admit that I still like the way I look better with straight hair, but I save that long and drawn out process for special occasions now :)

Any other curly-haired ladies out there? What are your favorite products?

the little things (in the kitchen)

It's no secret that I am certainly not a master chef. It's rare that I make a whole meal from start-to-finish, and I am extremely lucky to have a husband who actually enjoys cooking so he doesn't see it as a chore to make up for my shortcomings in the kitchen. (He doesn't call them shortcomings, I do :)

The one thing that I have always enjoyed in the kitchen is baking. I don't know why I see this as being so different from regular cooking, but I enjoy it so much more. Maybe it's because the result tends to be a bit more sweet and a bit less healthy? I do love sweet and unhealthy things....

Last night I made some chocolate chip cookies from scratch, using the recipe on the back of the Nestle Toll House chocolate chip bag. I feel like that recipe never fails me, and I love the excuse to break out the KitchenAid mixer in all her Ice Blue glory. We have a pretty petite kitchen with limited counter space, so one of the keys to baking cookies without losing my mind (and all of my counter space) has been this:

The Wilton Indulgence 3-tier cooling rack

We registered for this baby when we got married, and for a measley $9.99, dare I say, it has made baking in a small kitchen so much more pleasant. I kind of want another set so I can bake double-batches of yumminess and just keep stacking up :) (And by the way, my cookies look way better than those pictured above.)

While not handy for baking, my two other favorite inexpensive kitchen items are:

Easi Twist Jar Opener

I have the worst time opening jars (small hands, overall wimpiness) and this little gadget is amazing. It's great for jars of any size, and it has not failed me yet!

Forma Over-the-Cabinet Towel Bar

Our oven doesn't have the sort of handle where we could hang towels, so we have two of these and they're awesome at making our kitchen look somewhat organized (or at least like not-a-complete-mess).

What are your favorite little things that make your experience in the kitchen more pleasant?

swagger wagon

Have you all seen the new commercials for the Toyota Sienna? I find them absolutely hilarious, because they totally make fun of the minivan, yet are relatable for those couples who are trying to be responsible parents while still remaining young and hip. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who finds the term "swagger wagon" hysterical.



You can see the whole series of commercials here. Advertising at its finest!

laundry day, the claremont way

Last night, I was doing a few loads of laundry. I washed one load, put it in the dryer, and then got started on a second load in the washer. As I always do, I put the detergent in first and started running the water to dilute the detergent before adding clothes.

While the washer/dryer was running, I did some work. And then the washer buzzed to let me know that its cycle was done. So I opened it up...

And it was empty.

I never put the clothes in.

FAIL.

le poeme

One of my biggest hurdles in decorating our space is having the ability to objectively decide if I like something or not. Sometimes, an item will catch my eye, but I can't figure out if it's because it's pretty, or because it's ugly (or simply weird). I see items in other people's homes and I think, what a cool piece — I never would have thought to buy something like that for this room. But then when it comes time to find my own home accents, I lose any confidence in my ability to choose something that will add quirky charm, instead fearing that it will just be cheesy and ugly. It's like I'm trying too hard to look like I'm not trying too hard ;-)

A prime example: I saw this rug on Thrifty Decor Chick the other day, and I still haven't quite figured out the answer to the question she posed — love it, or hate it?

Le Poeme Indoor/Outdoor rug from Ballard Designs

Ignoring the fact that it's a rug, I do think it's particularly romantic and sweet because it's in French and it looks handwritten. Part of me thinks it would be a really great statement piece in an airy room with very simple decor... but the other part of me thinks it could turn into too much very easily.

What do you think? (By the way, we certainly have no room for something like this in our apartment, so this is strictly a hypothetical question :-)

sentimental clutter

I am, without a doubt, a hoarder of sentimental clutter (but I promise, not a hoarder in the sense of the tv show.... *shudders*). This post on Unclutterer really resonates with me and reminds me of why keeping everything may actually be doing more harm than good.

Sentimental clutter plagues our attics, basements, closets, garages, and desks. These sentimental trinkets can keep us from moving forward with our lives physically and emotionally. If there is so much of the past taking up space in the present, there isn’t room to grow.

Photo of me as a kid on a field trip. Photos NEVER get thrown out, in my book, even the bad ones... although, maybe burning those fat-faced photos of me from college wouldn't be such a bad idea. Hmmm...

Apparently, even Lindsay Lohan has recently figured out that the clutter in her life is suffocating her. Li-Lo, when you donate all of your old stuff, maybe you'll find the cute little Lindsay from The Parent Trap era. Bring her back, please.

How do you decide what stays and what goes in terms of sentimental clutter?

reason #753 to kick myself for donating the wrong stuff

I have really come a long way in de-cluttering our home. When I lived here alone five years ago, the place was completely full of STUFF, just because I had the space and I felt that it should be filled up. When Nick moved in with me two years later, I had a lot of purging to do, and it was not easy. Since then, I have made sure to routinely de-clutter and reorganize the spaces in our apartment that so easily get out of hand with clutter from who-knows-where, and we have minimized the number of duplicate items that we had.

While I'm proud of myself, I can't tell you how many times I have gotten rid of something that I later end up wishing I had never let go of. Example #753:

This pitcher. This chartreuse Russel Wright pitcher that I just happened upon for a whopping $90 at Sundance. I had almost the exact same pitcher in our living room for a few years, and I used it as a vase. I paid no more than $12 for it at a Gabriel Brothers store in York, PA, and I thought it was pretty; it coordinated with our cheery, yelllow-green walls. Nick didn't like it, though, and when we acquired several more vases as shower and wedding gifts, he convinced me to get rid of the chartreuse pitcher. The majority of the stuff in our apartment is "mine," so I compromised and donated this item (to Goodwill) that he didn't like and we didn't really need.

Now, I am not blaming my husband. Yes, we had too many vases (particularly as people who have fresh flowers in our home maaaaaybe 3 times a year) and yes, it was time to get rid of some clutter. But I would feel a much larger sense of victory right about now if I still had that stupid $12 vase that is a dead-ringer for a $90 version!!

Argh.

That is all.

start the year off right...

Happy new year, friends! Did you do anything fun to celebrate the beginning of 2010? Nick and I went out to dinner, then went out for a drink... and then realized we're old and pathetic and didn't really feel like staying out until midnight for the ball drop in our town. We decided instead to go home early and were in our cozy PJs in our warm bed by 11:00. Lest you think we're complete losers, though, we did at least manage to stay awake to see the ball drop in Times Square at midnight. And then we were promptly snoring by 12:02 :-) Oh wells!

Anywho... how about some good juju to start the year off right? I have mentioned before that I am a big fan of the work of Jessica Hische. If it's at all possible, I'm now an ever bigger fan after reading on her blog that for the first week of 2010, all of the profits from her store will be donated to the ASPCA. Yup — 100% of the profits. How great is that?

So head on over and buy yourself something pretty... after all, it's for the animals!

a very Claremont Christmas

Has everyone recovered from the holiday craziness and gluttony? Last weekend was such a lovely long weekend spent with family; Christmas was delightful, as always. We didn't win the Gingerbread House Decorating Competition this year (I demand a recount!) but I think our house still came out great. See?

This year, we bought pre-made gingerbread houses from the grocery store, and we all shared candy and icing... except, there was one twist that Kim added this year. Each couple could bring two additional "wild card" items that only they could use. The only rule was that they had to be edible. Our items were Juicy Fruit gum (which we used as siding), and we planned ahead and baked our own gingerbread to add dormer windows and a chimney! Things did turn out slightly wonky and the windows were waaaaay out of proportion with the rest of the house, but hey — we tried. And our house smells really good whenever you walk by it :-)

We ran out of black nibs for our roof... to cover the empty area I suggested we use the blue icing and call it a tarp — our gingerbread contractors pulled out of the job before it was finished ;-)

We had a blast opening gifts and just spending time hanging out. Nick and my brother bonded over potato peeling...

And we later put on our holiday finest to get a little family portrait by the tree.

I have off again today after a few days of work and we will be enjoying another long weekend to celebrate the new year. Nick and I will be heading out for our customary New Year's Eve dinner at our favorite fancy Chinese restaurant tonight, followed by the ball drop in our town and some midnight smoochin'.

I hope you all have a wonderful New Year's Eve, whether it be festive and fancy or low-key and lovely. Happy New Year to you!

PS- my "Merry Christmas" post was actually my 200th post on Claremont Road! I'm movin' up in the world... ;-)